BIO

Janna Magette

Assistant to the Head Coach

2011-12 is Fifth Year at UF

Chemistry and loyalty are two of the most important ingredients found among any successful coaching staff and no one exemplifies those characteristics on Head Coach Amanda Butler’s staff stronger than Janna Magette (JAN-uh muh-JET), who in 2011-12 serves as Assistant to the Head Coach for the fifth consecutive year.

When Butler was named the Gators’ head coach on April 13, 2007, it was an easy decision for her to ask Magette to make the move to Gainesville with her. Magette and Butler worked for three years together at UNC Charlotte, including the last two when Butler assumed head coaching duties. The more difficult decision may have come on Magette’s part, as she willingly chose to forgo her previous role as an assistant coach and welcome different challenges.

“I worked with Amanda for three years at Charlotte and every time she would talk about Florida, she would get so excited. She’s so passionate about this place,” Magette said. “When the opportunity came to remain part of her staff and work at a place like Florida, it was a very easy decision for me.”

Magette wears several different hats for the Gators, performing duties ranging from staff academic liaison to camp and coaching clinic's coordinator to working with practice and class schedules. She also oversees the program’s equipment contract and inventory with NIKE and coordinates the team’s travel.

In 2009-10, Magette began a new task of assembling the team’s annual schedule, as well as serving as the staff’s liaison for the program’s official website, www.CoachAmandaButler.com. She received her master’s degree from UF in 2010 and during the 2011 fall semester began work toward a PhD in a Leadership Development program in the college of agricultural education and communication.

During the summer of 2009 when Coach Butler was traveling with the U.S. Under 19 World Championships Team, Magette was allowed to fill in as a recruiter, observing and evaluating prep talent at national tournaments. She again slipped on the recruiting hat during the 2010 summer, when assistant coach Susie Gardner left for a head coaching position and Butler took time interviewing to fill that vacancy.

Magette and Butler first began working together at UNC Charlotte, where she was hired by then-49ers head coach Katie Meier as an assistant coach at the start of the 2004-05 season. When Meier left at the end of the year to become the head coach at the University of Miami, Butler was named 49ers' head coach and asked Magette to remain with her in Charlotte. Butler later hired Brenda Mock Kirkpatrick and David Lowery to complete her coaching staff, all of whom made the move to Florida with Butler.

That quartet of Butler, Kirkpatrick, Lowery and Magette gelled during their two years together in Charlotte, as the 49ers compiled 40 wins, captured a share of the 2006 Atlantic 10 regular-season championship and earned a pair of postseason berths.

Magette began her coaching career as an assistant for NCAA Division II Francis Marion University, where she was hired by first-year head coach Valecia Tedder in April of 2004. Among Magette's duties with the Patriots were recruiting, academic support and individual player workouts.

A four-year letter winner from Davidson College, Magette was a standout for the Wildcats, finishing her career as the program's second all-time leading scorer with 1,392 points. A long-range shooting threat, Magette was deadly from behind the arc, holding career marks in three-point field goals (213) and attempts (597). She earned All-Southern Conference honors in her senior campaign, setting a conference record for three-pointers made in a career. She also ranked among the school’s all-time leaders in assists (296), steals (239) and free throws made (195-246, 79.3 percent). Among her postseason accolades, Magette earned the 2001 and 2002 Wildcat Award, equivalent to a Most Outstanding Player honor. A two-time Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll member, Magette received her bachelor’s degree in religion in 2002.

A native of Hoover, Ala., the daughter of Jimmy and Peggy Magette attended Hoover High School, where she was a two-sport sensation in both basketball and softball. Her prowess on the basketball court caught the eye of several collegiate coaches, including none other than Amanda Butler, who was the recruiting coordinator at Austin Peay State University at the time. Magette opted to attend Davidson, where one of the assistant coaches her senior year was David Lowery.